Three weeks later, two more dates with Ben, and numerous utterances of the word "no", I've found a small condo near my work that I'm moving into tomorrow. All of my stuff is packed and loaded into a U-Haul and securely stored at Rose and Emmett's place. I'm doing a final cleaning of my room before heading to my friend's house for the evening.
Jake and I have not spoken since I told him I was moving the Monday after our disastrous brunch. He wasn't surprised but tried to tell me how upset he was and how much he would miss me. That led to another fight, and Jasper had to break us up; I actually tried to take a swing at my best friend—strike that, former best friend.
Embry had been quietly egging us on, and Jasper stumbled upon us as he was coming in from work. Jake's holier-than-thou boyfriend had called me a free-loading bitch, even though I've done more for Jake in the last ten years than Embry's done in less than a year of dating him.
"I gave you a place to stay when your parents kicked you out. I went with you every time you had car troubles because you didn't trust the mechanic. I've taken you to doctor's appointments, held your hand through your first gay breakup, and this guy comes around, and suddenly, I'm a terrible friend?"
"You've been so preoccupied with Edward in your pussy every free chance that you didn't even notice things were changing around here."
"Apparently, for the worse. When things change, when the dynamic needs to change … that's when you talk to the people in your life. Embry is not the only person in your life. But he's isolating you from everyone who cares about you and has been there for you."
Embry called me a bitch again, and when Jake agreed this time, I leaped forward to slap him, but Jasper caught me before I could touch him. After that incident, I moved my timeline up as much as I could. Embry, for his part, has been a ghost for the past three weeks. I don't know where he's been, but I don't care.
Edward has disappeared. No one has seen or heard from him. When I asked Jasper if he was at risk of getting in trouble with his command, he assured me that wasn't the case. He also told me that he wasn't gone, but that Edward asked that Jasper not tell anyone where he was.
I didn't care; I was done with him. It was more than obvious after our fight that he only wanted one thing, and he was too afraid of commitment to pull his head out of his ass. So, I'm moving on and out of this house.
"I think you've vacuumed that particular spot for about fifteen minutes now," Jasper called out to me over the sound of the machine, pulling me out of my thoughts and back to the task at hand.
"How does it look?" I ask him, turning the vacuum off and winding up the cord.
"It looks like no one ever lived here." He hangs by the door. "So, you're all ready to go?"
"Aren't you?" Jasper is moving in with me temporarily. He found an apartment, but it won't be ready for another month. After breaking up the fight between me and Jake, he couldn't stand to be here any longer either.
"Yeah, my stuff is already at Alice's." Their relationship is going well, but it's still new, and Jasper's still a little sore from his last breakup, so he doesn't want to rush into living together too soon. He's staying over at her place tonight.
"Good. Rose and Emmett are waiting for me, I'm sure." I turn slowly in the room, taking in the four walls and the window seat one last time. "I did have a lot of good times here."
"You good?"
I nod, not expecting the emotions to hit me like this.
"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow. I already have the keys, but I don't want to be that person, so let's meet at ten. Between all of us, we'll get it done quickly." I spy something on the floor of the closet and sigh.
"Okay, I'm leaving my key in the mailbox." I can't tell if Jasper is waiting for me or worried that if someone else comes home, there will be a fight.
"I will too. I'm gonna check the bathroom one last time, and then I'm out." I throw him a quick smile, and he nods.
"See you tomorrow."
I listen to him leave before pulling the offending item out of my closet. It's one of Edward's Navy shirts that I stole over the course of our time together. For just a moment, I think about keeping it—a keepsake of better times and good memories. Then my better judgment takes over. I grab my bag and walk to Edward's room, tossing the shirt carelessly onto his bed. When I get downstairs, I grab my purse, take my house key off of the ring, and leave this behind me.
Placing my key next to Jasper's in the mailbox almost feels like the last nail in the coffin.
**BoU**
After getting all of our furniture moved in and situated, Jasper and I buy a late lunch for everyone while we relax and enjoy the moment of a new start. It only took us three hours to get everything set up, put away, and cleaned up. Beds are put together, furniture is placed, clothes are hung up, and boxes have been broken down and taken out to the small garage I have. I'll need to buy more furniture to round out my new place, but I see it as an adventure, not a challenge.
Rose, Alice, and I are talking about going to a few furniture stores the following weekend, but just as I'm about to confirm, my phone vibrates with a text message.
Ben: How was the move?
Bella: Good, we're already done.
Ben: I can't wait to see it.
Ben: I don't want to take you from your friends, but do you want to do something tomorrow?
I'm grinning, and Rose giggles. "Is that Ben?"
"Yeah, he's asking if I want to go out tomorrow." I turn back to my phone when Alice pipes in.
"Why don't you invite him over? Watch a movie or something?" She clicks her tongue and raises her eyebrows. I laugh and shake my head. Our friends know about what happened between me and Edward. I let Jasper tell them so it wasn't biased.
"I don't know if I'm ready for that," I say and set my phone down without responding to Ben.
Alice rolls her eyes. "I'm not saying jump his bones. I'm just saying maybe it's time to talk about what you two are doing."
"Might be a good time to talk about your last 'relationship'," Rose adds, and I sigh.
They both make good points, and I agree that the grownup thing to do would be to talk to him. "Okay, but that means we're going to Ikea right now. Boys, load it up."
By the time we're all hungry for dinner, I have a kitchen set, a small sectional, and various bits and bobs. Jasper's and Emmett's trucks are filled, and my car has the overflow. Rose and Alice pull up the rear of our little caravan, and we load everything back into my place and make quick work of putting it together.
I call Ben on FaceTime, and we chat for a little bit before I invite him over for a movie tomorrow, and he agrees.
"I was hoping we could talk." Normally, that kind of declaration would worry me, but he's smiling that Ben smile, and given that I'm already ready to do the same, I'm not worrying.
"Good, I can't wait to see you." We chat for a little longer before we hang up, and I go shower, get myself ready for bed, and make sure everything is locked up.
Tapping on Jasper's door, I wait for confirmation before I enter. "I was just going to say that I'm going to bed."
"You okay? Today was a big day." Jasper is playing video games and pulls his headset off to talk to me.
"Yeah, I'm just tired, and Ben is going to come over for a movie tomorrow." I lean against the doorway and smile.
"Oh, good. I can clear out for the night."
"No, I think it's fine. Plus, I don't want you to feel like you need to do that." I blush, and Jasper sets his controller down.
"You really like him, don't you?"
I shrug. "He's just different. He doesn't pretend to be anything he isn't … At least, I don't think so. It's still early, so I'm just taking it one day at a time."
"You've sort of been dating him for a month." He stares at me before picking up his controller again. "It might be a good idea to figure out if he's different or if you really like him."
"Maybe. Night, Jas."
"Night."
Sleep comes easy in the new place, which shocks me, but I'm tired from the move and the stress from the last month. When I wake, I'm refreshed and ready for this new chapter in my life. Jasper is drinking coffee in the kitchen when I stumble in, and he mentions something about going shopping with Alice for sheets, towels, and other odds and ends he'll need for his own place.
I tell him that my plan is to go grocery shopping to get all the basics to get the kitchen set up. "Can you pick up some things for me? I'll Venmo you."
"Sure." I grab the notepad off the fridge and a pen from my purse. "Put it on the list."
I get ready, and by the time I leave, Jasper is gone, and the list is filled in with his requests and even some basics that I didn't think of. I'm familiar with the area, but I spend a little time driving around, getting an idea of the layout better. There's a Target nearby, so I head there because I also need some more towels and sheets while I get food.
Two hours, a few hundred dollars later, and a simple menu planned for tonight, I'm loading up my car to head home. Since I can back right into the garage and unload, this shouldn't take too much time. Mental list for the rest of the day is made, and by the time I get home, I'm feeling determined and ready to go.
When the towels and sheets are in the wash, the food is all put away, and I'm sitting on the couch, I text Ben to see when he wants to come over. After I tell him I'm offering to make him dinner, he tells me he's even more excited. We text for a few minutes, and I'm grateful that I still have a couple hours before he shows up.
I clean myself up, prep what I can for dinner, and relax. It's nice here; quiet. I spent a lot of time in that house by myself where it was quiet and I was alone. But living with so many bodies when more than two of us were home, it was always loud. Now, I can sit in my living room, reading, without worrying that three or four people are going to come crashing in and take up all the space and silence.
I feel like I could drift off for a nap when someone knocks at my front door. I check the time to make sure I didn't actually fall asleep and Ben isn't waiting on my doorstep. But it's only a little after four. The knock sounds again, so I stand up to see who it is. I peer out the peephole and gasp lightly when I see who it is.
I open the door. "What are you doing here?"
Edward is standing on my doorstep in jeans, sneakers, a Navy shirt, and ballcap. He looks up at me from under his cap. "Hey, Bella."